Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Vancouver Canucks 2008-2009 Season

I originally intended to write this last night but was so pissed off I couldn't get a sentence out without having at least 2 to 3 f bombs in it. I watched the whole game from the couch in front of the LCD and by the end I almost threw my remote through the TV. It was a sad display of hockey and Vancouver clearly deserved to lose as they played like complete shit. Goaltending was weak and the defense was piss poor.

How big of a lead does Roberto Luongo and the defense need in order to win? 3 goals clearly wasn't enough on multiple occasions. The offense had to work so hard to score a goal and get back into the game and whenever they would take the lead Bobby Lou would blow it. I even went to update twitter and as I was midsentance...BAM the lead is gone.

In the St. Louis series Luongo let in 5 goals in 4 games. In the series against the Blackhawks he let in 21 in 6 games including 7 in game 6. So much for being the best goalie in the world and the apparent "captain" of the team. He is as good a captain as Richard Park over there on Long Island. They both have no business wearing the 'C' and Luongo showed why with his performance.

To make matters worse this game, and game 5, never should have happened. If the Canucks didn't blow their 3 goal lead in game 2 and their 1 goal lead in game 3 then they would have swept. God forbid their defense learns how to clear a puck and their goalie realise that the puck stays out of the net.

It's not all Luongo and the defense's fault though as many forwards didn't pull their weight. Guys like Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler who were leaders during the regular season vanished in the Chicago series as both finished the playoffs with only 4 points each.

Also have to thank Taylor Pyatt for showing up for the Chicago series. Not sure if it was him out there or his fiance as in 4 games he managed 0 points and was -3. If you're not gonna try then stay home and cry pal cause the team doesn't need your scrub ass taking up valuable playing time from guys who don't suck.

Mats Sundin needs to be mentioned as well. The $10 million man who scored 8 points in 8 games. He got his points to make it look like he did something but if you watched the games you saw a player who was not playing to his strengths. At 6'5" 231lbs he is a massive man yet for some reason refuses to screen the goalie. Countless times I saw him standing at the side of the goalie waiting for rebounds instead of screening. Useless piece of crap taking up too much cap space and using his money to keep his respirator going.

The Sedin sisters did their usual thing. They got their points and tried to be fancy but never really found their rhythm. Henrik had 5 points in the Chicago series while Daniel had 4. Not bad but they need to step it up if they want to get fat new contracts. They are supposed to be our top offensive threats. Combined they equal 1 Crosby or Ovechkin. Instead of being 1 elite player they are 2 good players and that isn't enough. Going to be interesting to see if they come back.

Alain Vigneault needs to go. The man is a terrible coach. He shuffles his lines waaay too much and doesn't allow players to build chemistry with one another. Also his decision to play to sit on the one goal lead in game 3 was brutal. The Canucks played the entire second and third period as if they were on the penalty kill. Eventually they gave up a goal after Willie Mitchell decided to clear the puck along the boards where 8 fucking guys were standing rather than through the middle of the ice. You don't win games by sitting on leads. You have to play aggressive hockey. AV needs to go.

It should be a crazy off season in Vancouver as there are lots of guys becoming free agents. Sundin, the Sedins, and Mattias Ohlund are all set to become free agents. This will either free up some serious cap space or tie the team down with old and overrated players.

Either way some changes need to be made: A new coach, an elite forward, and a captain that scores goals. Vancouver missed their chance to win it all this year. Whoever comes out of the Ducks/Wings series is going to be dead and easy pickings while the teams in the east are all subpar in comparison. What could have been.

It was hard to watch the Canucks lose like that and just thinking about it again pisses me off. They had their chance and they blew it. Shit the bed and gave up. Played like crap and embarassed the team. They had so much talent this year and should have done more.

3 comments:

Draper004
said...

You're anger towards Luongo is really unfounded and unnecessary. Yeah, the guy had a bad game. But if it was not for Luongo, the Canucks would have gotten nowhere in the regular season OR the playoffs, so I think it is dumb to place any of the blame for the Canucks exit on his shoulders. And this is coming from a guy who doesn't even like Luongo.